Protect Me..." Part 02
by Karniz Archada
Summary: "Protect Me..." Part 02 is the written format of my Vagrant Story Doujinshi... It involves the story from the actual game, so only read it if you've played the game... RECOMENDED READ!!!


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
Author: Karniz Archada  
karniz_archada@hotmail.com  
URL: http://ginkoginko.com/nnnets/  
Site name: NNN! EtS!  
  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
This fan fiction is sole property of Karniz Archada. No distributive use is allowed  
in any way, shape, or form. Do NOT mail me asking so.  
Also, my fic's usually contain some type of homosexual contact, be it Yaoi or even  
Yuri, some of my fics actually contain it. If it bothers you, do not read, but I  
dont' do *hardcore* stuff... so it's safe to read... XD  
If there is anything in this Fanfic that bothers, disturbs, or even makes you wanna  
rip my larynix out, please do not tell me so. Any flames, or bad comments are just  
going to be ignored. Plus, anything of that nature will make me consider you an idiot.  
Learn to respect the works of others, no one writes to please others, they write  
to please themselves...  
And that as a note, please enjoy a rare taste of my Fan Fictions~  
~Karniz Archada  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
  
Title: Protect me... [Part 02]  
Series: Vagrant Story [Video Game]  
Genre: Suspense, Action, Horror? It's really angsty... XD  
Warnings?: Not really... there's a hinting of HardinxSydney, and HardinxJoshua... And mentioning of blood and whatnot... nothing too horrid and extreme... XD  
Oh yeah... LOTS of Spoilers!  
  
[WRITING NOTE: To really get this, you obviously gotta play Vagrant Story, if you haven't, this fic contains full spoilers for the ending part... and as a warning [not a *bad* warning] this is very loosely based on the game's ending... Since it had been almost months since I've touched VS [I didn't own it at the time, now I have the import... ::hugs it::] so I wasn't too clear on how the ending went... so bits and parts of the story may seem very familiar... XD]  
[ALSO~ This is PART 02~ Some of you might wonder where part 01 went? well... that was illustrated in doujinshi [comic] format, which can be seen on my website, NNN! EtS!]  
  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
  
  
         It was a dark afternoon, the moon shone very bright in the sky. The awkward feeling of evil surrounded the area near the Monastery. A man was standing in a mandala, trying to summon more of the evils underneath Lea Monde to aid him in this war. He has light blonde hair, that slightly touched his shoulders. Soft, greyish eyes sunk lightly in his sockets. A smooth, and charismatic smile was on his flirtatious face. Sydney, standing in his circle felt the presence of someone with evil intentions, behind him.  
         "So you finally arrived, Guildenstern…" Sydney said, turning his head slightly.  
         Romeo Guildestern, a man with broad shoulders, light dirty-blonde hair, and a golden carapiece, stood behold Sydney's lean body. He walked behind the unsuspecting dominer, holding his sword ahead of him, "Yes… I have been waiting for you, but not for long… your presence in this earthly form will soon diminish…"  
         Sydney turned quickly, when hearing this death threat, "What say you?"  
         Romeo smiled with an impish flair, "Of course, Losstarot, you would play idiot… You don't want to lose the key…"  
         The smaller, thinner man stepped back slightly, "I don't understand what you are talking about…", He reached behind him to get his sword ready.  
         "Don't even attempt it," Romeo said, brandishing his own sword in front of him.  
         Sydney, not knowing what to do, turned completely around to face the other man. He smiled, "You want to kill me? You know that that is impossible…" He pushed his hair back.  
         Guildestern grinned back, "Yes… it might be impossible to kill you, but it is possible to hurt you… Very badly…" He smiled, a demonic smell was in the air, Sydney felt it.  
         "Tell me, Romeo, what have you ere'?"  
         "I'm here for you… Losstarot…" Romeo said, taking Sydney by the shoulder.  
         He smiled, "Guildestern, I do not accept you in that way, take your hand off and let's talk about your problems… Is it Samantha?"  
         "SILENCE BASTARD~!" Romeo screeched, hearing that Sydney was bringing his lover into this affair. Sweat trinkled down his face, his blue eyes shining with madness, "I do not love you, nor will I ever… You're appearance torments me… I only wish that you were a dead man…" He said, turning Sydney to have his face turned away from his own. He took his blade, and pressed it against Syndey's cold back.  
         Feeling this, Sydney tried to pull back, Romeo slightly pulled his sword deeper into his skin. Blood appeared, "What are you doing~?!" Sydney tried to pull away.  
         "I am just, borrowing your 'key'…" the golden knight said, laughing to himself.  
         Sydney was in trouble, he knew it… Desperate, he tried to claw Romeo's sword away from him. It was unsuccessful, only having the other man dig his sword deeper into his back. Sydney felt the sword go slowly down, he felt helpless…  
         "Ashley…"  
  
                                             ***  
  
         Inside the monastery… Joshua, the Manor's son, was being his usual self. He had light blonde hair, and soft hazel eyes, which shone with intelligence. He wore the outfit, a little white peasant vest with a blue undercoat - the same clothes he had been wearing for the past couple of days; since, he was taken from his home, by Hardin. He ran around the room, playing with the dust bunnies, and various little entities that flourished in the dark, damp room. Callo, seeing this boy running around, took hold of his arm.  
         She glared at the poor, unsuspecting boy, "Joshua, don't go running around like that, you might hurt yourself…"  
         Joshua looked at her playfully, with an impish smile. He pulled himself away from her grasp.  
         "Dammit boy~! You ignore me, why?" She shook Joshua's shoulders.  
         The young boy, pulled away from her, once again.  
         "I don't understand why you be that way…"  
         Just then, Hardin came into the room. Seeing Callo having Joshua as a hostage, he ran over and slapped the woman. Taking Joshua under the arms, and holding him up to his chest, he yelled, "Woman~! Are you trying, once again, to take this child away from here!?! You are an idiot beyond measure! Learn, that once you are here, you will not escape until this ordeal is OVER! OVER YOU GET IT~!?"  
         Callo, pulling away, frightened by this man, "You are a selfish pig, you don't care for a woman, yet to care for the boy like he was your son…?"  
         "Yes, are you jealous?" Hardin said, walking to the other side of the room and settling Joshua down on the windowsill. "Are you hungry?" He said, taking out a loaf of French bread, the only kind that bakers made around Lea Monde. Joshua nodded and took a piece of the bread, placing the rest into Hardin's mouth.  
         Callo, being the hag that she was, reminded Hardin that there was another soul in the room. She slammed her hand down on one of the boxes near the corner of the room, "You naught care that there be another starving soul in this room? Or does the matter of the kidnapper and hostage be more important to you? Don't you follow the code of chivalry? Women and children first?"  
Hardin let out a nice and solid laugh, allowing the whole room to shake and rumble. "You are a stupid bitch, aren't you?" He took hold of Joshua's face, "Isn't she annoying? Joshua?"  
         Joshua nodded.  
         "He is just on your side because you feed him…" Callo said, in her small petty attempt to draw Hardin's anger.  
         "No, he only follows what he believes…"  
         "And this boy talks to you?"  
         "This boy speaks so much, you'd want to stick the whole loaf of bread down his throat to shut him up…"  
         The woman shrugged, she ignored the two 'boys'…  
         There was suddenly a rumble in the air, the ground shook, and knocked Callo her to knees. Hardin tried successfully to catch the boy and carry him in his arms, at the same time taking his back to a corner to prevent him from falling… The walls shook, and pieces of the walls fell onto the ground with a loud crash. Fragments from the ceiling fell onto parts of the room, creating a cloud of dust everywhere…  
         They were all worried, it couldn't be stopped, looking outside, Hardin noticed that the sky outside was a rustic red. "It must be starting…" he said, weary.  
         "What do you mean that it's starting?!?" Callo shrieked, holding on harder to the board that fell from the wall.  
         Hardin hesitated.  
         "Tell me! The boy would like to know also…"  
         He looked worried, and looked down at Joshua. In the scene of despair, Joshua's little, wondrous eyes showed an interest in what Hardin had to explain. "Fine… But I'm only doing this for the boy…"  
         Callo nodded.  
         He started, "Back then, when all of this chaos began, Sydney, my boss, told me of a havoc that will be started once the beads of Mullenkamp are let into the wrong hands… We have seen, that in time, the beads disappeared into the hands of Romeo Guildenstern. He is a wretched man, only looking for destruction of the world… Even his wench, Samantha thinks that he is insane… Well, pent with destruction, he swore to defeat Sydney one day, seeing fit, he hid the beads underground, in the depths of the underworld… Or the market of olden' Lea Monde."  
         He stopped, but only for a second… Callo asked, "So, is Sydney a bad man-?"  
         "SYDNEY IS NOT A BAD MAN~!!!" Harden yelled, protecting his master. Joshua shuddered at the name. "He has helped me in hard times… I can never hate him at all… Well, on with the story, it seems that Ashley has found the beads, so that part of Romeo's tact is gone. Although, now it seems that Ashley is also on the hunt for Sydney too. The bad thing, we have no clue where they are, and I have no clue where Sydney is. It is only up to fate, that Sydney can close the gate, and hope that Romeo, or Ashley even; gets to him…"  
         "You still haven't told us why you have us here?" Callo insisted.  
         "It's all about the key…" Hardin mumbled, ignoring Callo's attempts at making conversation.  
         He looked at the boy, who looked into his eyes with a glazed look. "Don't worry, you'll be safe…"  
         "Answer me…"  
         Hardin yelled back, admist all of the rubble, "What in hell do you want to know!?!"  
         "Why you have us here…"  
         "Well," Hardin smiled, "I have Joshua here to protect him, you are here because you are an interference…"  
         "An interference?"  
         "Yes," Hardin said, "You came in onto me, you knew of the road I was travelling, it was a totally secretive path that only me and Sydney know of. This monastery lost their blueprints, and as of now, only I have made one…"  
         "And you said that you needed to protect Joshua? From what?"  
         He smiled once again, "Romeo, believing what his prophets tell me, believes that Joshua is the key that he needs, or that Joshua knows of the key… It is just the trivial part to make the boy speak, as you may know…"  
         Callo nodded.  
         He looked at Joshua, who looked down and began to tap on his breastplate.  
         Continuing on, "Well… Sydney believes that Joshua doesn't need to have any part in this, so he told me to capture Joshua, or take him hostage, to a safer, better place…"  
         "So you chose the underground of the church? Why?"  
         Hardin sneered, "Why do you want to know so much? Planning to write a book???"  
         She sighed.  
         "Well, I don't know what is happening, it seems that the earth has stopped it's fit…"  
         Callo, feeling a feeling deep inside, whispered, "I do not think that it has ended… I only think that it has begun…"  
  
                                             ***  
  
         In another area, standing outside of the church, two figures, supported by other soldiers, stood in awe of the sky. The woman, clad in armor, stood there with her arm blocking the red moon from her face. Her wispy silver hair brushed against her dark skin. She had intelligent golden eyes, ghey shone with brilliance. The other man, who accompanied her, had a pale complexion. He had cold blue eyes, and a stoic appearance. He was much larger than her, and held her close while they stood, guarding their area. There were other guards, clad in the armor of the 'Cross Knights'. In the back, stood a man, who had chains on his wrists and feet. He had pale skin, and dark eyes. He looked like a zombie. This was once a man, whom was powerful and strong, who is now, just a being of the undead, torn in life to wander and eat the life from humans… He was their friend, and ensuring his and their safety, had him chained like an animal. The woman turned around, as she went to her brother.   
         "Grissom…" he placed her arm on his shoulder.  
         He shuddered a moment, not without a small curl on his lip.  
         "It's no use, Neech, he cannot be helped…" The other man approached.  
She looked into Grissoms' blank face, tears appearing on her own, she hugged their old comrad. Tieger, with a slight grunt, placed a hand on Grissom's shoulder, and Neechs'. They stood in their triangle of despair. Each of them were sad, although they didn't really want to show it.  
         One of the soldiers tapped on Tieger's back, "Umm… General Tieger…? What are we to do here???"  
         Tieger looked at the young soldier with a cold look, "If you want to know, ask the head, Neech…"  
         The soldier, confused, turned and tapped on Neech's shoulder, this upset her, and she continued to cry helplessly. She threw herself into Tieger's arms, the bear conforting her in his chest. Grissom, seeing this scene, reached out to touch them with his cold - clammy hands. Neech saw this, and reached out and took his hand into her's.  
         "You are still yourself… you just haven't found it yet… Memories cannot even be forgotten… You may be the undead," she sniffled, "But you cannot surely forget your friends…" She broke out crying once again.  
         Tieger, sticking in his two-cents, "That is what keeps you living…"  
         Grissom, seeping with tears made of his fleshious blood, looked down, and grunted softly.  
         "Let him sit down…" Tieger commanded the guard.  
         "O-okay…" The guard lowered the chains, and Grissom sat down.  
         He took Neech by her shoulders, and rested her against him, he held her, and comforted her. The other soldiers, aware of the fact that Grissom was now a force of the undead, brandished their weapons for her protection.  
         "PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPONS~!" Tieger roared, he pulled his own Thor's Hammer out. They all lowered their weapons.  
         "I… am ver-… y… sorry… for all… I have… done…" Grissom spoke quietly to Neech.  
         "Don't be… it was not your fault…" She hugged him tighter  
         Tieger sat down next to them, the ground felt like it had rumbled slightly, "It is good that we are happy, maybe Grissom will be better after this…"  
         They all agreed.  
  
                                             ***  
  
         Kali was defeated… Ashley, aware of his surroundings, approached the main chamber of the Chapel. Inside, he didn't know what he would find waiting for him. It was obvious that the final hour was arriving for Lea Monde.  
         Inside, once the large heavy oak doors were open, the gothic design of the ceiling hung high. Rough hues of brown, and red colors were like rotting rust on steel bars. There were statues, shaped like gods and goddesses in every aspect of the rooms… Cracks on the walls showed the symbol of Rood Inverse, the symbol of the very evil in this land. This symbol worn by Sydney Losstarot, meant of great magic and dominating power… and Ashley kept that in the back of his mind. From their last meeting with eachother, Ashley learned that Sydney was not against him, but he was helping him find the real terror of Lea Monde. Feeling was of awe, and frightened as he was, Ashley showed no fear in any of this.  
         A creak was heard from above and below… The sounds of dying souls screeching for their lives… He headed downstairs…  
         A sudden gust of warm wind was his answer… He heard a low- and evil laugh… Suddenly, a Fire Spirit flew down, burning with a firey glow. Dodging to get behind a pillar, Ashley readied his Ice attack. First he casted a barrier on himself, to protect from the burning flames, and used an Ice spell to ready his blade. He came forward on the spirit, ready with protection that he needed. He slashed at the demon, where it tried to avoid every one. He swung high, he swung low… Ashley then noticed that the demon's weak point was his head, since it was the only unprotected item on his body. Aiming for that point, the demon was soon killed… Ashley, burnt and bruised, continued on…  
         Upstairs, far up ahead on the sixth floor… Sydney stood there, casting the rest of his void spell… to vanquish the true terror of the land… He heard a noise, turning around, only to face a black figure…  
         "ROMEO~!"  
         He used his fist, and slapped Sydney across the face. He yelped, and sat up on his knees.  
  
         "…" Hardin clenched to his heart, he felt the odd pressure of fear, he knew that Sydney was in danger…  
  
         "What are you doing here!?!" Sydney demanded, taking another blow from Romeo because of his idiotic question.  
         "It is quite obvious, Losstarot… I am here for the Key…"  
         "Intelligence would tell you that I do not have the key that you want…" he said, sweat forming on his brow…  
         Romeo let out a roaring laugh, like that of a beast, "You IDIOT! I know more than you could ever think of… I know who has the key… and I will stop at nothing to get it…"  
  
         "What is wrong… Hardin?"  
         "Nothing for you woman…" Hardin said, moving Callo away from him. Joshua ran to his side, and clenched onto his arm… "I know that you feel for me boy… but there is nothing that I can do to stop this pain, please do not feel for me at this moment... I am feeling lots of--"  
         Merlose, who was turned away, turned toward Hardin, as she noticed that they were fading… "What is happening?"  
         "It is Sydney…" Hardin said, "He needs my help, and summons me… 'We are not safe here'… He tells me… We must goto him… and … Help…--"  
         They were taken, in a white light, to another place…  
  
         "Your friends… you believe that they can help you?" Romeo laughed.  
         "No… I am sending them to a better place…"  
         Romeo smiled, "Maybe I make their stay… a little memorable!"  
         The white light appeared, Sydney shrieked… Romeo had used his spell, instead of sending the three to another place, to send them here, to the battle field…  
         "You bastard…" Sydney growled.  
         Romeo lips curled… I think they will enjoy the truth…  
         The three began to materialize, their olden bodies in the monastery disappeared… Joshua began by clenching onto Hardin… and Callo looked around with wonder. Hardin, still feeling Sydney's pain laughed when he saw Romeo.  
         "What is THIS man doing here?? Shouldn't he be watching his men, who we see standing outside!?!" Hardin laughed.  
         Romeo walked over to Hardin, "Lest you know, poor being, that Sydney has been LYING to you…"  
         "Lying?"  
         Romeo nodded, he turned to Sydney, who's face was flustered and red.  
         "Don't believe what this madman tells you… All he is is LIES… Utter LIES!" Sydney broke out into tears…  
         Hardin, looking down at Joshua said, "I will not believe anything that Romeo tells me, unless he hath proof…"  
         "Aye… but I so do have proof!"  
         Romeo, taking Sydney by the shoulder, turned his back to him, where Sydney's Rood Inverse tattoo was seen by the four of them… "In this young man's back, shines the key to what I was looking for all this time!" He roared in laughter, "This asshole, trying to keep me from the key, only wanted to steer me away, thinking that HE did not have it!"  
         "You are crazy…" Sydney said, sounding unassure…  
         Romeo took his blade… "May you all see the fall… of a powerful, DEAD man!"  
         "NO ROMEO! DON'T!!!" Hardin leaped up, pushing Sydney away from Romeo. Seeing this action, Romeo brandished his crossbow, which was concealed in his carapiece.  
         "That was a stupid move… Old man…" Romeo aimed well at Hardin, and shot the bolt. It pierced Hardin's skin, going through the man's gut. He welped. Joshua ran over to Hardin, and hugged him softly.   
         "MADMAN!" Callo yelled.  
         "Shut up… or I might get YOU next…"  
         Sydney ran over to Hardin, kissing his cheek, "You all must go… I'll work on a teleportation spell… I'm a little weak, but it might work in time… When you go, leave this country… try to stay safe… and Pray-tell that the Riskbreaker will make it in time… to save us…"  
         "What idiotic tales to you tell your wounded friend? Losstarot?" Romeo walked over to Sydney.  
         Sydney turned around, guarding Hardin and Joshua. "Stay away…" he growled.  
         "Aw… the fierce kitten growls like a cat…" Romeo smiled… then he grabbed Sydney, and turned him around.  
         The scene was gruesome, Romeo had his blade to Sydney's back, he was ready to cut the Rood Inverse off of his back… "Sydney, how you keep all of this from us… Who are you trying to save? Your-self? Everyone else on this damned world? I have pity for you… self-righteous bitch…" He slowly started to pierce his skin, the white skin now turning red from the blood. "Look at him! Look at your sorry leader, Hardin… The one who lied to you all… For what reason is unknown to me… But he wanted to protect something… Maybe he wanted to Protect himself? Maybe he wanted to Protect you… Maybe he wanted to Protect Ashley?"  
         Sydney tried to shake away from his grasp.  
         "He is only trying to protect something… but WHAT MIGHT IT BE!?! It has started Sydney… and you cannot stop it… The birth of a God only exsists if there is a carrier… I have picked that carrier… and soon… It will begin…"  
         "What will begin!?!"  
         "A revolution… of man and the maker…"  
         Romeo broke out into insane laughter… the ground shook, and thunder was heard… Lightening hit the ground in various areas… The Sky was a violet crimson… Hardin felt himself get carried, he and Joshua, and Callo too. They were materializing, to another place. Sydney smiled peacefully, completing the spell used to help his friend, and the young boy whom he needed to protect. Hardin looked at Sydney, their eyes catching eachother… "Sydney…"  
         "Do not die Hardin… and do not forget me… Remember who you must save?"  
         "The boy…"  
         Hardin, Callo, and young Joshua all disappeared, leaving only a trace of themselves in the chapel, from Hardin's blood on the stone ground…  
  
                                             ***  
  
         Thunder clashed on the ground, she looked up, with a frown… "It will be soon, Romeo is almost done…"  
         "Don't give up yet Neech… WE are not dead yet…" Tieger said, sitting in a rock just outside of Lea Monde. Grissom was sitting on a rock above him, with Neech supporting his head on her lap. She was crying lightly, sniffling every once in awhile, while stroking Grissom's hair.  
         "Tieger, you know that Grissom cannot handle NOT being what he truly is, he cannot resist what he is now forever…" Neech said, pushing Grissom's hair away from his brow.  
         Tieger grunted, "Of course I understand that… but by then, we will not be afraid to kill him, I mean, we are all afraid right now, we are not sure if we will live… but later, if it get's peaceful again, and if Grissom's zombie side kicks in, we should not be afraid to do away with him…"  
         Neech looked off into the distance, Grissom made a small noise in his throat. This somewhat peaceful moment was shattered when a bolt of lightning struck the ground near them. Neech shrieked, Tieger got up to shelter Neech and Grissom. "Don't be afraid, if anything strikes near us, we will retreat somewhere else…"  
         She nodded. Grissom sat up, he smelled the air… "…he… is… beginning…"  
They all feared what was to come… What was to await them, so they sat there… gazing up to the storm that began high atop the tower… Where Romeo and the Riskbreaker fought to the death…  
  
         Around him was foliage, creeping ivy on the wall… The smell of raw earth, below him, around his fingers… He clutched onto a handful of what the goddess Gaia gave to her creations, pulled it to his face and took a good breath of the fresh earth… It has been long since he smelled the earth, or what it had to offer… But now, the only thing he was focused upon was the pain… That tormenting pain from the wound on his chest… 'damn that Romeo…" he said to himself.  
         Beside him, the young boy; whom he was supposed to save, clutching onto his sleeve… Hardin looked down at Joshua, he gave a slight smile. Noticing a movement in the grass nearby, Hardin brandished his dagger from the sheath hidden well inside of his pant pocket. It was Callo. She wasn't injured at all… Only some cuts and bruises, nothing serious, nothing like what he had…  
         "Woman… Woman get up!" Hardin yelled.  
         Callo, hearing him, began to move. She was out of energy. This whole expedition was nothing that she intended it to be when he first arrived in the woods, following Ashley from the Riskbreaker headquarters…  
         "Hardin… Where are ye?" she grumbled.  
         He tried to breathe, everything was feeling so dark, and damp to him. "I'm over here, in the bush… The boy is with me…"  
         Hearing that, Callo got the sudden strength to sit up. She started toward them and noticed the wound that Hardin had. She said with a sound of worry in her voice, "You're injured…".  
         "DAMN RIGHT DON'T YOU THINK I MIGHT HAVE NOTICED THAT!?!" He coughed, knowing that he shouldn't do that in his condition.  
         Joshua woke up, he looked up to Hardin, with slight tears forming around his eyes. He saw the blood dripping onto the ground next to him, which were coming from Hardin's warm body… Shaking his head vigorously, Joshua sat up and hugged Hardin from his neck.  
         "Aye boy… I'm dying… I failed Sydney… and I have failed you as well…"  
         Joshua didn't move, only held on, clutching onto the man.  
         Callo rushed over to Joshua, she began to pull him away from Hardin. "You must leave the man be! He needs his rest~ I'll send for a medic from the next-"  
         "The medic will never get here in time… I will perish, and nothing will reverse that effect…" Hardin said, assisting the boy away from his clutch.  
         He started to sniffle… Then Joshua's tears now began their waterfall-like fall…  
         "Boy… … no, Joshua… … you were special to Sydney… if he get's through this, be sure to let him tell you what a wonderful guy I… was… He'll tell you of… all of our adventures…" He coughed a bloody cough, "… and be sure that you are safe… And Callo, take care of him… don't let him cry… only let him remember me, and cry… then…"  
Tears began to form in Callo's eyes… she shook her head, "Hardin! Don't say that~ You must try! Try you foolish man! Stop all of that morbid talk~ LIVE!"  
         Hardin began to twitch nervously… His vision became foggy… He couldn't see much of anything anymore… everything was a bland blend of gray and green of the landscape surrounding them… The only thing that he could see in it's glory was a light blonde head, wearing a soft blue tunic… Brown, dirty from the venture in the underground of Lea Monde…  
         Joshua struggled out of Callo's grip, he then yelled, in a raspy voice, "NO! HARDIN~ DON'T DIE~ PLEASE DON'T DIE!!!"  
Hardin looked at the boy with a faded look in his eyes, a tear formed from the crevice of his eyelid. "The boy speaks… he speaks to me, and me only… … …"  
  
         He lost the vision in which he used to have… the world became a messy mosaic of sounds and colors… flashing, twisting, turning around him in random motion… The vision of the boy was gone, the soft blonde and blue filtering away… being taken away by the darkness… that damp, musty grayness of death… there was nothing he could do… no way to reverse the process…  
  
         Hardin was dead…  
  
                                             ***  
  
         The busy streets were filled with people in the outskirts of the central of Lea Monde, was a growing town, awaiting to take over the ruin from the past and begin a new future. A woman wearing a white hood, and almost jet black armor stepped out onto the street. With a scabbard attached onto her side, she leaned a wicker basket, dyed the color of blood, onto her hip. People did not avoid her, nor were they scared. Some gave out a polite bow of their head as she walked by. She walked into the local bakery, to pick up her daily five rolls of fresh bread.  
         "Ahh… Here ye be again, what'll be it this time? The same?" asked the clerk.  
         "Yes," she said, "As usual…" While the clerk shifted to get the order ready, she shifted around, looking behind the counter. "And sir, while you are at it, could you also get me a sweet pound cake?"  
         The old shopkeep looked up, "On the house sweetie… You've been so good to me and my business…" He wrapped up the pound cake with the bread, and helped her place it into the basket in which she brought specially for picking up her daily bread.  
         "Have a good day~"  
         She walked out back onto the busy street, making her way into the guard's place, where all of the men who watched over the city stayed…  
         Two men stood up and gave her a salute, "Welcome back!"  
         "Yes, and I've got the rest of lunch here as well…"  
         She took the bread to the kitchen, and handed it to the cooks there, where they sliced it up and served it to the other soldiers along with some soup.  
         One of them noticed, "Hey… What's the cake for?"  
         She glanced over her shoulder, and playfully said, "Not for you…"  
         Opening one of the doors, she greeted her friend by startling him. She hugged his neck, from behind, which shocked him as he was polishing his hammer. "Neech, I really wish that you would not do that…"  
         Neech smiled, her silver lips glimmering in the light sunlight coming in from the cobbled walls.  
         "Have you brought the bread?"  
         "Yes, it's being served…" She said, but then she sat down on the bed, which encased another of her friends, whom was white and cold to the touch. He reached up and touched her knee; feeling the warmth of her leg, he then smiled.  
         "Hi Grissom… Yes, I am here…" She calmly stroked his forehead, "How has he been doing of late?"  
         Tieger stood up, placing his now polished hammer against a nearby wall, "He is doing much better, the apothecary said that he will not be totally healed, but his urges will cease exponentially…" He nodded, "And that is a good sign…"  
         "Yes…" Neech said, pulling out the cake which was wrapped in a lavender colored foil, "I brought you two something special~"  
         They both seemed to get interest, Tieger leaned forward, and Grissom sat up in bed. Neech unwrapped the cake from in the foil, revealing the soft yellow pound cake, filling the room with it's pungently good aroma. She smiled to them both, "I decided that since it's been almost three months since Romeo's reign, we should celebrate these three months of his release…"  
         "I agree…" Tieger said, putting his hand on Neechs' shoulder.  
         Grissom smiled, "Hopefully… no other's like him will… come around… soon…"  
         The three of them smiled, as they all clasped their hands together, the Knights of the Holy Cross…  
  
  
                                             ~end~ 


End file.
